Global Recession: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review

 

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ADAPT YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEW REALITY

by Michael G. Jacobides and Martin Reeves

It will be quite some time before we understand the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the history of such shocks tells us two things. First, even in severe economic downturns and recessions, some companies are able to gain advantage. Among large firms doing business during the past four downturns, 14 percent increased both sales growth rate and EBIT margin.

Second, crises produce not just a plethora of temporary changes (mainly short-term shifts in demand) but also some lasting ones. For example, the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused only a temporary decline in air travel, but they brought about a lasting shift in societal attitudes about the trade-off ...